Falling Snow

008

When Livia returned home to her bedroom that night, Coriolanus was leant over his desk simply scribbling away. Livia had noticed he'd worked on his presidential speech five times now, scrapping each and every idea that came to his mind.

He payed her entrance no attention, not even lifting his head as the girl began to unbutton her coat and hang it up on the other side of the room. It was only when she decided the silence was deafening and she'd read a book in the library that he spoke, just as she was about to exit.

"Did you have fun today with Florus?" He didn't look up, he didn't even spare her a glance.
His facial expression was lack thereof, leaving his thoughts a mystery to the blonde girl who now stared at him with curiosity.

"I did. It was nice to see a friend."

"A friend.." Coriolanus mumbled as he continued to scribble and Livia found herself scoffing, "oh don't act like you care Coriolanus. Our relationship holds no love for him to steal."

The blonde didn't look at her, simply continued writing, the scratching of the ink on paper etching ounces of annoyance into Livia's soul.

"This is all about your pride."

The blonde boy nodded nonchalantly, dropping his ink and staring out the window above his desk, head rested in his hands, "I suppose you're right, would be ever so embarrassing for my future wife to be seen with another man."

His admission was spoken as if it was an obvious fact, condescension lacing his every word.
"Nobody even knows of our engagement yet Coriolanus." Livia stated with a smirk, knowing she was winning the argument, "your precious pride is fine."

The blonde rose from his chair and made his way towards Livia, slowly, like a serpent to pray. "You're correct, until our engagement is public you can frolic around with Florus all you please," he stopped in front of her, eyes hard and with a slight glare as he reached an arm over the side of her body.

Livia's breath hitched as the boy moved closer, their bodies inches apart as she began to wonder his next move, only for him to slightly smirk, grab his scarf from the coat hanger and whisper to her, "but as soon as this little affair of ours is public, you're forbidden to see him."

The words caused a chill in Livia's spine as her annoyance increased, mostly at the fact that he always found a way to get to her.

He moved himself past her elegantly and begun to waltz down the hall, "I'm going for a walk," he turned back, "join me?"

The blonde girl scoffed at his sudden kindness, "I'd rather choke."

Something in his eyes lit up as he let out a soft chuckle and sighed, "I'm being polite for once Miss Cardew, I suggest you take the offer while you can," she raises an eyebrow in confusion and he answers, "snow will fall soon."

***

The walk through the cold brisk air of the gardens was quiet, the only interest in both of their minds being on the roses growing on either side of the paths. There were so many shades, red, white, yellow, orange.

Livia wondered if this is where Coriolanus obtained the roses he kept tucked in his pocket, so she broke the silence and asked, "The roses in your jackets, are they from the plinth garden?" Her voice came out strangled at first, as if she was unable to speak. Or as if the world was trying to stop her.

Coriolanus seemed to smile in fond memory, "no, they're from my grandmother." He began to glance over the flowers in the garden and pluck a red rose from one of the bushes, "her flowers are well grown and smell beautiful, these however are altered and designed, just like everything in the Capitol."

Livia snickered and shoved Coriolanus lightly with her shoulder, "careful, that almost sounded like criticism."

He rolled his eyes and straightened himself, "it's my one flaw with the Capitol, when I'm president I'll propose we keep roses the same, their natural beauty is already enough."

"And nothing else has that natural beauty you wish to keep?" He stared at her for a moment, seemingly contemplating an answer.
Truth be told Coriolanus believed Miss Cardew had the perfect traits one would wish for, she was symmetrical, her skin was clear, her hair healthy, her nose pointed yet small. Sometimes, her eyes looked almost fox like.

The idea that everybody modelled themselves after her didn't seem so bad to him.

"No." He said despite himself.

"Very well, I believe most things have it however," Livia smirked and began to skip onwards, leaving Coriolanus to catch up to her.

He simply walked slowly and expected her to stop for him, she didn't. It irked him.

"It?"

"The natural beauty." She stated matter of factly finally stopping and turning to face snow once more.

"Like what?" He simply didn't agree, flowers seemed to be the only constant beauty in his life. Roses never stopped being pretty, no matter the event, they always remained beautiful.

"Trees, animals, people!" She began to giggle as she imagined how beautiful the world looked when she stopped and let her eyes open wide enough to see it.

Coriolanus however believed one should keep their eyes shut from the world.

"None of those things compare." As always, he had to argue with her, leaving a sour taste in her tongue as he spoke matter of factly, with a dash of condescension.

"Must you argue every point I make?" The boy did not spare her a cheeky smirk, instead he clenched his jaw, "not when there is no needed disagreement."

"Coriolanus." She finally sighs, defeated, "Can we not just admire the flowers without bickering?"

"Not when you argue that anything else obtains such beauty that they possess." Livia stared at him for a moment, at first in anger and then to study his face, his every feature appearing golden in the fading sunlight.

He was exactly like the planets, mysterious, inviting and godlike. But the memory of such a topic created such a sour taste in Livia's tongue that she simply bought two fingers between her brows and started massaging the incoming migraine he was giving her.

"Okay let's move on then," she begins to skip through the gardens must more, eager to carry on to a different topic, "I hear there's a waterfall around here somewhere, that ought to calm you," her comment passed through him like a snide dagger and he grimaced, "doubt it."

It was in this moment that Liva realised Coriolanus Snow...was grumpy.
He wasn't being particularly horrible or threatening like usual, instead he was clearly overthinking something inside that pretty brain of his.

So as he waltzed himself up to where she was standing waiting for him, a change Coriolanus had taken note of, Livia turned her face to catch his eyes and with a small smile uttered, "is something the matter?"

Of course she should've known he would say no.